Etisalat, du asked to halt pay-per-use data plans in UAE

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The new regulations will apply to other service contracts soon, according to the TRA.

The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) has asked UAE telecom giants Etisalat and du to halt pay-per-use data plans on prepaid lines, which see customers incur extra charges should they exceed their data limit.

In a statement on its official Instagram channel, the authority said: “In order to protect the subscribers from excessive charges of the service 'Pay-per-use data', TRA instructed the operators (du and Etisalat) to discontinue this service unless the subscriber explicitly requests it from the operator.”

A message sent to Etisalat users yesterday said: “Great News! Now you have credit protection on your prepaid line! To prevent unexpected charges, pay as you go data has been blocked from 1st Jul 2019.”

However, customers who opt for Etisalat’s 20 MB data daily package (for AED 1) will incur maximum charges of AED9 should they exceed the data limit.

A second Etisalat message said, “To continue using mobile internet, please dial *101*60# and get 20 MB data for only AED 1 with a daily protection limit of AED 9.”

TRA’s decision is in line with the UAE’s preparations for 5G, Artificial Intelligence and Internet of Things, the authority said.

It comes three months after the authority slashed the cost of cancelling a mobile phone contract early.

Instead of paying one month’s cancellation fee multiplied by the number of months remaining on the contract, users will now only have to pay one month’s cancellation fee.

The new regulations will apply to other service contracts soon, according to the TRA.

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